


Through Time and Space

by Joyful



Category: Doctor Who, Glee
Genre: Crossover, F/F, F/M, Gen, Homosexuality, Interspecies, M/M, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-03-17
Updated: 2011-03-23
Packaged: 2017-10-17 01:31:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/171524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joyful/pseuds/Joyful
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt has a watch he never opens, and Puck wonders if it's important.  Puck urges Kurt to open it, and he wake up, reborn as his Galifreyan self.   Time Lord!Kurt and Companion!Puck</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rivulet027](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivulet027/gifts).



> For this prompt on the Puckurt fic meme: http://community.livejournal.com/puckurt/970926.html?thread=22166958#t22166958
> 
> This is just a prologue. There will be more eventually.

Kurt Hummel had very few memories before he was adopted by Burt and Katie Hummel. He knew it wasn't that uncommon, but since the orphanage guessed he was somewhere around four or five he should at least have _some_ memory of life before he was found wandering and naked in Ohio, with nothing but an old pocket watch. Sometimes he had fabulous dreams of flying, of purple skies and red mountains, of odd aliens and a fancy academy. His dreams were a wonderful break from the stress of life. Katie Hummel had died only about three years after he was adopted, leaving Kurt alone with his father, who loved him deeply, but never truly understood him.

Kurt Hummel was a little strange. He filled notebooks with story ideas, dreams, designs for fancy clothes, and song lyrics. Things bubbled around in his head in such interesting ways. And every time something weird showed up on the news, like spaceships over England, ghosts that turn into metal men, daleks, and everyone turning in a crazy man...Kurt's head came alive with information that he could never quite touch. It was like when a word is at the tip of your tongue but just can't quite remember it. You can remember what it means, one or two letters in the word, how it feels when the word touches the inside of your mouth, what sort of sentence the words fits into, and even the part of speech it is, but you can't remember the word. That's what Kurt's head was like when the news talked about aliens. Of course, the fact that he was Lima, Ohio's most flamboyant gay teen also marked him as different. As well as the facts that long after puberty, his voice still hadn't dropped to a masculine tone, and he could easily out-bitch every girl on the cheerleading squad when pushed. Kurt Hummel was different, Other.

Noah Puckerman was different as well, but for other reasons. He had a couple of mild learning disabilities that made school a little tricky, but he made up for it in other ways. He was a talented musician, a good athlete and a loyal friend. The loyal friend part came slowly, but he did a lot of growing up in high school. At the beginning of their sophomore year, Puck was one of the bullies who regularly tormented Kurt, but now that they were seniors, they'd actually become pretty good friends. Kurt tutored Puck in school, and Puck looked out for Kurt in the hallways, protecting him from bullies. Puck was best friends with Kurt's step-brother Finn, so he was over at Kurt's house a lot. It took a while, but Kurt eventually realized that Puck didn't want to go home.

Everyone in Lima knew that the Puckermans were poor, just like everyone in Lima knew that Ruth Puckerman drank too much. When Kurt and Finn were working on their college applications, Puck let it slip that he wasn't leaving Lima until Sarah, his little sister, was eighteen. Finn didn't hear the muttered comment about wanting to keep her safe, it was so quiet Kurt barely heard it. The day that everyone was lounging in the Hudson-Hummel hot tub Kurt noticed the faded scars on Puck's body. Some of them were rough and jagged, like they'd been made with broken glass. There were seven scars on Puck's upper body. Puck tried to brush them off, hiding them behind bravado, but Kurt could see the fear behind the proud mask. There was a night in February when Puck and Sarah showed up at their house while Burt and Carole were away, Sarah clutching a teddy bear and a sleeping back, and Puck with three ling fingernail scratches on his cheek. Kurt tried to get Puck to turn Ruth in to the cops after that, but Puck was too scared that Sarah would get tossed in the system.

Kurt Hummel had courage. Kurt Hummel had attitude. He had talent, a killer fashion sense, and an amazing capacity for love. What he didn't have was power. He didn't have the power to stop his mom from dying. He didn't have the power to stop his first boyfriend, Blaine, from cheating on him with their friend Jeff. He didn't have the power to stop his best friend Mercedes from accepting admission to a private college in Georgia. And he definitely didn't have the power to stop Ruth Puckerman from hurting her kids.

So he and Finn came up with as many crazy reason to invite Puck and Sarah over whenever possible. Finn would let Sarah beat him at video games while Kurt helped Puck with his homework. Kurt would talk Puck through the problems over and over again—never getting frustrated with the larger boy—all the time playing with his old pocket watch. He'd hold it in his hand, idly running his thumb over the designs in the silver, or swing it gently from the chain, seemingly not even noticing he was holding it.

“Where'd you get that old watch anyway?” Puck asked one day while Kurt was helping him with his final research paper for English. If they got all their papers done and handed in, they'd officially be done with high school.

“Hm? Oh this? I don't know, really. I've always had it. I think I was found with it,” Kurt said, lightly tracing the etchings with his thumb again.

“Found with it?” Puck asked, confused.

“Oh, yeah, you know I'm adopted, right?” Kurt asked Puck.

“Yeah, I think I kinda remember you saying that.”

“Well, I was found wandering around not far from here. I must have been about four or five at the time. I don't remember anything before that. I didn't have anything, not even clothes. Just this watch. I was taken to an orphanage, and Mom and Dad adopted me soon after.”

“Does it work?” Puck asked. “The watch?”

“No, I don't think so. It's just always there.”

“Maybe it just needs a battery or a good winding or something. You should open it,” Puck said.

“I don't think it opens,” Kurt said, his eyes narrowing as his forehead wrinkled slightly.

“Are you sure? Maybe it's just stuck,” Puck said. “Try and open it.”

“O—okay,” Kurt said, staring at the watch as if he'd never really _seen_ it before. He pressed the latch and the lid popped open. Suddenly, bright golden light flowed from the watch. It seemed to flow around his head before pouring into his mind through through his eyes. His eyes glowed golden before he closed them.

“Kurt? Are you okay? Kurt?” Puck asked, setting his hand on Kurt's shoulder.

The boy's eyes snapped open. Kurt. Was that his name? No, that didn't sound right. Where was he? This didn't look like Gallifrey. The brunette took in his surroundings as he remembered where he was. He had two sets of memories now, and there was a lot to sift through.

“Kurt,” Puck said again, worry on his face. “Are you okay? Seriously, you're scaring me, what's with the freaky light show.”

“Noah,” he said, remembering suddenly that that was the other boy's name. Noah Puckerman. “No, everything's fine. I remember now.”

“Remember what?”

“Everything.”

**end prologue**


	2. Family is What Matters Most

*****  
Chapter One  
*****

It took a little while to convince Puck that he wasn't crazy or possessed. He had absolutely no clue how to tell his family and friends that he'd just been awoken to the realization that he was really a 90-year-old alien hiding out on Earth, away from a war. Actually, when he added in the thirteen years he'd been living in Lima, he's 103 years old. Still a kid, really. He had officially graduated the Academy and earned the title of Time Lord only days before the final Great Time War began. And he'd been afraid. He'd got his TARDIS, and he hadn't even picked his new name yet, he'd still been going by his birth name. He brought the name to his mind and rolled the syllables around in his mouth. It hurt him too much to say them out loud. His mother had called him a shortened form of his Gallifreyan name. She'd called Traylos. It was still him but...not him. Because for the past thirteen years he'd been Kurt Hummel.

Everything that had been essential to Traylos' existence—Gallifrey, the Academy, his family, his friends, Melora—those were all gone now. The only thing Traylos had left was his name, an old watch and...His TARDIS. A smile hit his face as he remembered where he'd hidden his TARDIS. But Kurt Hummel still had ties. He still had a loving father, and awesome stepmother, a pretty cool stepbrother, and several really close friends. One of whom was staring at him, worried.

“Seriously, Princess, you okay? 'Cause the glowy-eye thing was a little too 'Stargate' for my taste.”

“Don't call me Princess,” Kurt said automatically. “There's just a lot of stuff going on in my head right now, and I promise I will tell you as soon as I figure it out, Puck. In the meantime, you should keep working on this essay, and I'm going to help Carole with dinner. I reminded her it's Sarah's birthday tomorrow, so we've made her a cake. She still likes those _Monster High_ dolls, right?”

“Right,” Puck said. “Thanks. You guys are really good to Sarah.”

“She's part of the family,” Kurt said, “And so are you.”

Kurt walked down to the kitchen. The house pulsed with familiarity and comfort, but at the same time everything looked different. When he looked at things, he was no longer looking through the eyes of a human, but rather the eyes of a Time Lord. He could see the endless possibilities in everything. All of the things that Kurt had known his all live now shimmered at him with unused potential. Kurt helped Carole with dinner, he made some small talk, and he tried to act like nothing was wrong. All through it, he was thinking. Sorting through both sets of memories and formulating plans and back-up plans. He needed to find out about Gallifrey because now that his memories were unlocked, he could remember seeing it, huge in the sky a couple years back. He had done some preliminary research when he had first chosen Earth to hide on, and knew that UNIT records might be a good place to start, if he had the chance to hack into them.

“Is it pot roast?” Sarah asked, coming into the kitchen when Carole called for dinner. “It smells like pot roast.”

“Of course it's pot roast. That's your favorite right?” Kurt asked, touching her nose lightly with his index finger so that she giggled. She nodded. “Well, we had to make your favorite for you birthday party.”

“A birthday party? For me? Really?” Sarah asked, her eyes wide, a huge smile on her face.

“Yep,” Finn said, following her into the room. “A birthday party with pot roast and cake and presents and everything.”

Sarah turned and hugged Finn tightly. It wasn't a secret that Sarah had a crush on Finn. Then she hugged Kurt, and ran upstairs to grab Noah and drag him down for supper. Kurt watched the two of them together, and felt, more than ever, that his eyes had been opened. He watched Sarah eat her dinner, and frowned when he saw the bruises on her forearm. They were shaped like a hand, and Kurt knew that Puck would never lay a hand on Sarah. As he watched Puck and Sarah, he wondered if their mother was the reason Puck had been so willing to give up Beth. He knew, of course, that Puck hadn't wanted to give up his daughter. He'd have been willing to five up on everything to raise her, but Kurt couldn't help but wonder if he'd surrendered his daughter to keep her away from Ruth.

After dinner, Kurt sat on the sofa, and used his iPhone to connect with the internet and hack into the UNIT records. He gathered as much information as he could, and tried not to reveal to his family that his hearts were breaking. Gallifrey was gone, for good. The only surviving Time Lord that UNIT knew of was the Doctor, and Traylos' parents had always warned him to stay away from that madman. Apparently the Master had survived for a long time, but had finally been defeated. Traylos' family was gone, he would never see them again. Kurt finished his research, put his phone away and steadied himself. Traylos' life was gone. Kurt Hummel was all that remained.

“Kurt, can you drive Noah and Sarah home?” Carole asked after dessert and presents, and Sarah's eyes widened in fear.

“Ma's working tonight,” Noah reassured Sarah, and Carole looked a little confused when Sarah relaxed at that information.

“Sure, Carole,” Kurt said. And he didn't mind, because it would give him a chance to locate on his TARDIS.

“Puck, can I talk to you for a minute?” Kurt asked.

“Sure,” Puck said, handing Sarah his house keys. “Go inside, Sarah, and change into your PJs, okay? I'll be in soon.”

“Okay,” Sarah said, yawning as she climbed out of the car.

“Are you going to tell me what happened with that watch in your bedroom?” Puck asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Eventually,” Kurt said. “But I need to ask you a couple of questions first, and I need you to not lie to me, okay?”

“Sure,” Puck said, shrugging. “As long as you tell me what was with that golden light.”

“Does your mom hit you and Sarah?”

Puck flinched at the question, then lowered his eyes to his lap. “Yes,” he admitted quietly.

“Is this why you don't want to leave Lima?” Kurt asked. “You need to keep her away from your mom?”

“I turn eighteen next week,” Puck said. “Next week. I've been waiting until I was old enough to try and get custody of her, before I could turn Ma in. I didn't want us getting tossed into the system and separated.”

“What if I can offer you a better option?” Kurt asked.

“Like what?” Puck said.

“Like Burt and Carole taking in Sarah, so you could go to college, and not have to support a 10-year-old at eighteen,” Kurt said.

“I don't know. Why would they want to raise Sarah when their kids are about to graduate? They're done.”

“Because their kids are about to graduate and leave the house,” Kurt answered. “And because they love her, and you, and they've never had a daughter. All of those are perfect reasons.”

“Why do you care?” Puck asked.

“Because I care,” Kurt said. He looked into Puck's eyes. There was so much pain and fear there, but also strength, confidence, and even arrogance. He was such a unique individual. “I care about you, Noah.”

“Why?” Puck asked again. “Are you, like, in gay love with me or something? Why do you care? What do you want from me? Nobody's ever wanted to help me without wanting something from me in exchange.”

“I care about you, Noah,” Kurt said again, and he could see Puck squirm uncomfortably at being addressed by his given name. “You're strong, and funny, and smart, and loyal, and creative, and loving and so much more interesting than most humans. You're worth getting to know, and I've gotten to know you. And I care about you, so just deal with it.”

“Most humans?” Puck asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dammit. Kurt realized he'd slipped up. He hadn't wanted to tell Puck yet, mainly because he didn't know _how_ to tell Puck yet. A tiny portion of his mind noted that Puck might not have been completely wrong when he'd asked if Kurt was in love with him. Kurt hadn't really thought about it before, but now it seemed like a distinct possibility.

“Give me your hand,” Kurt said.

Puck held out his hand curiously, and Kurt took it in his right hand.

“First, please remember that I am the same Kurt Hummel you have always known. I'm not under any sort of mind control or anything. All that watch did was remind me of who I was before Burt and Katie Hummel adopted me,” Kurt said.

“And who was that?” Puck asked.

“That is a very long story that now is not the time for. Just pay attention,” Kurt said. He pressed Puck's hand against the left side of his chest. “Do you feel my heartbeat?”

“Yeah,” Puck said.

“Okay,” Kurt said. He moved Puck's hand to the other side of his chest. Directly above his other heart. “Do you feel that?”

“Your heartbeat?” Puck asked, suddenly getting nervous. “Hummel, do you have two hearts?”

“Yes,” Kurt said.

Puck swallowed, but he didn't pull his hand off of Kurt's chest, though Kurt let go of Puck's hand.

“What are you?” Puck asked.

“I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey,” Kurt answered. “There was a war, the Great Time War. I didn't want to fight, so I ran away. I made myself human, hiding away my Time Lord consciousness in that watch. I stripped away all memory of who I was and became a human boy. When I opened the watch, I became who I was before.”

“And who was that?” Puck asked.

“He doesn't matter,” Kurt said. “Everything he had was gone. His family, his friends, his planet. It's all gone. Kurt Hummel is all who matter for me now, and Kurt Hummel's friends are in trouble. I want to help you, Puck.”

“Let me get this straight,” Puck said. “You're an alien, who ran away from a war, became a human kid, and grew up. Then you opened that watch, and now you're an alien again, except you're still Kurt Hummel, the only guy apart from Finn who gives a shit about me.”

“Pretty much,” Kurt said. “If it freaks you out, I can leave you alone.”

“It totally freaks me out,” Puck said, “But I don't want you to leave.”

“I need to go, at least for a while, and you need to go put Sarah to bed. But I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to talk to Dad and Carole, and then we're going to report your mother to the police.”

“What if the police don't do anything?” Puck asked. “What if it just pisses her off?”

“I saw the bruise on Sarah's arm,” Kurt said. “And when you guys showed up that night, in February, I took pictures on my phone.”

Puck's face grew hot as he flushed with embarrassment at the memory. “You mean, the scratches on my face?”

“I have them on my phone. And the bruise on Sarah's back from when she wore her swimsuit,” Kurt said.

“I should be angry with you for taking those pictures behind my back,” Puck said. “But I'm not.”

“Good.”

“Where are you going, after I get out of the car?”

“I'm going to track down my ship,” Kurt admitted. “Make sure it's still where I hid it 13 years ago.”

“There's been a spaceship in Lima for thirteen years and nobody knows?” Puck asked.

“Yep. I'll show you, but not tonight,” Kurt smiled. “Go tuck Sarah in.”

“This alien thing is going to take some time to get used to,” Puck said.

“Please don't tell anyone, Puck. I have to figure out how to tell Dad and Carole. They're going to think I've gone insane.”

“Okay,” Puck said softly. His hand is still on Kurt's chest, feeling that strange second heartbeat. Finally, Puck pulled his hand away, and climbed out of the car. Kurt watches him go inside, and then drove off.

*****

His TARDIS was exactly where he had left it. It was in the middle of a park, in the form of a bronze and marble statue. Kurt frowned when he saw that his TARDIS was covered in pigeon droppings. But he ran his hand over her, finding her door. It opened, and he stepped inside. She recognized him right away, the console room filling with light as her consciousness reacted to his psychic presence.

“I missed you too, sweetheart,” Kurt said, stroking his hand across the console. “Let's go for a short trip, see how you're doing.”

He thought about his car, and then fiddled with the controls. He rematerialized the TARDIS around his car, programming it to park the car in one of the lower levels. He just needed to get them both back to his house. When they rematerialized at the Hudson-Hummel house, the chameleon circuit changed the outer shape into an old shed. Kurt parked the car in the garage, and the 'shed' in the backyard. Then he went inside. He needed to talk to Burt and Carole. Once he was sure that all his friends were safe, he and his TARDIS could travel again. He itched to go forward in time. Twenty-first century Earth could be so stifling sometimes.

He didn't need sleep right now. Now that he was Gallifreyan again, he'd require a lot less sleep than he had as a human. He got his laptop from his bedroom and brought it into his TARDIS. He stayed up all night doing research and waking up the TARDIS. She had missed him, sitting dormant for so many years. She was curious about the minds of the nearby humans, and she was already reaching out with her psychic ability and weaving herself into their minds. Psychic spaceships tended to do that. But Kurt spend the whole evening getting reacquainted with his TARDIS. The next morning, he was in the kitchen already when people woke up, making coffee and breakfast. Food didn't taste exactly the same anymore, but it was still good. He didn't need as much food as a Time Lord either, than he had as a human. He definitely didn't have to worry about dieting anymore. Gallifreyan bodies didn't change much.

“Hey Kurt, you're up early,” Carole observed as he put breakfast on the table.

“I actually didn't sleep last night. I need to talk to you and Dad. It's important.”

“What's important?” Burt asked, shuffling into the kitchen into his slippers.

“So, last night, Puck finally admitted that their mom hits him and Sarah,” Kurt said, gauging his parents' reactions. Burt bangs a fist n the table in anger.

“I always suspected,” Carole admits. “But I never knew. I called social services on her once, but nothing came of it.”

“Noah will be eighteen next week,” Kurt said. “He's been avoiding calling the cops because he didn't want them to be separated in the foster care system. His plan is to report his mother and petition for custody of Sarah. I have a sinking suspicion he won't get it.”

“We could take her in,” Carole said instantly, which made Kurt grin. He'd been 97.3% sure Carole would say that, but there was still room for doubt. Kurt looked over at Burt.

“Absolutely,” Burt said. “You and Finn are moving out, with Finn going to State, and you going to NY. We'll have the room, and the time, and I've never had a daughter.”

“I hoped you'd say that,” Kurt said.

“If you call Puck, we'll go to the police station with him,” Burt said. “If I'd known that woman was beating those kids earlier, I would have taken them in years ago, you know that, right, Kurt?”

“I know,” Kurt said. “Which reminds me of the other thing I have to tell you. You're not going to like it, and you may not even believe it.”

“What?” Burt asked.

“Do you remember how, when I was little, it would bother me that I had no memories before the orphanage, but you told me they'd come back if they were important?” Kurt started.

“Yeah,” Burt said. “Did they?”

“Yes,” Kurt said. “I know where I'm from now.”

“Where?” Carole asked.

“Do you remember, two New Years ago, when the aliens did something weird, and a giant planet showed up in the sky, like it was going to knock us out of place?” Kurt asked.

“Yeah,” Carole said, and Burt nodded as well.

“That planet was the planet Gallifrey. It's time-locked now, nobody can get in or out, but that's where I was born. I came here when I was still a child and made myself human, to escape a war. I never lied to you, Dad, I swear,” Kurt confesses everything. He takes his father's hands and pressed them to his chest, pressing either hand against his chest. “I'm still Kurt Hummel, I'm still your son.”

“Of course you are,” Burt said. “So you're an alien, you're still my son, and I love you just the same.” Burt stood and pulled Kurt into a hug. Technically, Kurt was older than his father, but it didn't matter. He was in the safest place in the universe—in his opinion—his father's arms.

“Carole?” Kurt asked, when he broke the hug. “Are you okay with this?”

“Do I really have a choice?” Carole asked, smiling. “You're my son, as much as Finn is. I adopted you when I thought you were human, I'm not going to change my mind just because you're not.”

“You two are the best parents in the universe,” Kurt assessed. “I'm not going to tell Finn until we straighten out the thing with Puck and his mom and sister.”

At almost that exact moment, Finn ran into the room, waving around his cell phone.

“You guys, Puck and Sarah are in trouble. Sarah called me, she said her mom hit Puck really hard and he won't wake up.” Finn said.

“Tell her to hang up and call 911. We'll be there as soon as we can,” Burt said. “Let's go out to the car.”

“No,” Kurt said, “I can get us there faster. Follow me.”

Kurt led his father, step-mother, and step-brother out to the shed which none of them had ever noticed before. Mainly because it had never been there.

“Trust me and come inside,” Kurt said. He went inside and punched in the coordinates for Puck's house.

“It's bigger on the inside!” Finn yelled.

Kurt smirked as he hit a button, and the TARDIS started making noise. It took them three minutes, and they were there.

“Open the door,” Kurt said to Carole, who was closest to the door, in her bathrobe and pajamas. She opened the door to reveal the Puckermans' living room. The chameleon circuit changed the outside of the TARDIS so it looked like a six-foot-high black, metal filing cabinet. They stepped out of the TARDIS to find a crying Sarah leaning over an unconscious, bleeding Puck.

*End Chapter 1*


	3. Friendship is Forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not very happy with this chapter. But when arranging a crossover the set-up is usually the hardest bit. Once I get Puck and Kurt into the TARDIS, and have them flying around the universe together, things should flow better.

A great thing about children is that they accept 'weird' pretty quickly. Sarah Puckerman didn't even question the fact that the Hudson-Hummel family stepped out of a filing cabinet in her living room. All she cared about was that they fix her brother, who wasn't getting up.

“Sarah, come here,” Carole instructed, and the girl did. She had a bleeding gash across her cheek and some scratches on her forehead and chin. “Where's your mom?”

“Passed out in her bathroom,” Sarah said, darkly. “She got fired.”

“Burt and Finn and Kurt are going to take care of Noah. You show me where your first aid kit is, so I can fix up your cheek, okay?”

“Okay,” Sarah said, taking Carole's hand. “Noah put one in ever room. It's behind the television.” The three men surrounded Puck. Finn called 911, while Kurt pulled off Puck's shirt.

“How did you get this cut?” Carole asked.

“Broken bottle,” Sarah said. She was crying while she spoke. “She hit me across the face with it, then Noah yelled at her, so she just started stabbing him with the bottle. I screamed her her to stop, and she slapped me, and then dragged herself off to her bedroom. She won't wake up for hours.”

“Honey, why didn't you tell us before?” Carole asked, while cleaning the cut with an alcohol wipe.

“Noah said they'd split us up, and I might not see him again,” Sarah said.

“Dad, keep your hands here,” Kurt instructed. “Keep pressure on it. Finn, keep your hands here. Same thing. Keep pressure on the wounds. We want his blood to stay inside his body.”

“They should be here soon,” Finn said. “The paramedics and the cops. And then maybe you can tell me how we got here?”

“Not now, Finn,” Kurt said. “I will explain everything later. We need to save Puck now.”

“There's so much blood,” Burt said quietly, and he was right. Puck's now-removed shirt was soaked through with blood.

Kurt understood basic medical treatment for standard humanoid lifeforms. Most of them were similar enough that the rules were, for the most part, the same. He pulled back Puck's eyelids. He wanted to see if Puck had a concussion. He needed to try and wake him up.

“Puck, Puck,” Kurt shook him slightly.

“Kurt?” Puck slurred, half conscious. “You here?”

“I'm here. So are Finn and our parents. We're going to get you and Sarah out of here. We'll get you away from your mom,” Kurt promised.

“Where's Ma? Where's Sarah? Oh God, don't let her hurt Sarah!” Puck thrashed, as he tried to figure out what was going on.

“Puck,” Kurt said very quietly, his hands on either side of Puck's face. “Puck you have to calm down, and you have to breathe. You are absolutely not allowed to die, do you hear me?”

“'M cold,” is all Puck said in reply.

“You have to hold on, Puck,” Kurt ordered. “Because you wanted to see my ship, and you can't see it if you die. But if you hold on, I'll take you traveling. We can go to the moon, or Mars, or wherever you want.”

“There are other planets? With people on them?” Puck asked, gasping.

“Yeah,” Kurt said, stroking Puck's forehead. Puck was cold to the touch. “There's a planet called Woman Wept. They call it that because it only has one continent, and from space, the continent is in the shape of a woman crying. It's so beautiful. Or the planet Felspoon, which has mountains that sway in the breeze.”

“What is he talking about?” Finn asked, confused, as he kept pressure on Puck's wound.

“Kurt will explain everything later, I'm sure,” Burt said.

“They sway?” Puck asked.

Kurt nodded. Then he put his mouth next to Puck's ear. “And did I mention it also travels in time?”

“Really?” Puck asked.

“Yeah,” Kurt said. “If you make it through this, Noah, I'll take you anywhere you want to go.”

Puck didn't have the chance to answer, because there were sirens, and then the ambulance was there.

“What happened?” the EMT asked as they came over to Puck.

“His mother stabbed him with a broken liquor bottle,” Carole said. “His sister says she's passed out upstairs.” Carole had a still crying Sarah in her arms and was hugging the ten-year-old tightly.

“The police are on their way,” the other EMT said as they started to work over Puck.

“Finn, why don't you and Kurt go with Puck to the hospital. Your mom and I can stay here for when the police come,” Burt volunteered.

“The little girl needs to go to the hospital too,” another EMT said. “She should get stitches on her cheek.”

“I'll take Sarah to the hospital,” Kurt said. “Finn can ride with Noah, and you two can meet us there after the cops come and arrest Mrs. Puckerman.”

“Are we going in your big black car?” she asked Kurt as the paramedics rolled Noah, on a gurney, out of the house.

“Not exactly. Take my hand, Sarah,” Kurt said.

She took the older boy's hand willingly and he led her into his TARDIS.

“It's so pretty in here. What is it?”

“Can you keep a secret, Sarah?” Kurt asked.

“Of course I can,” Sarah said, one hand on her hip, the other still holding gauze against her cheek.

“I'm an alien. But I'm a really good alien, and you can't tell anyone. This is my spaceship. It will take us wherever we want to go, but the outside is smaller than the inside, so we can park in the hospital parking garage.”

“That's so cool!” Sarah said, and like any ten-year-old distracted with shiny things, her tears stopped flowing and her breathing normalized.

“You can't tell anyone except Burt and Carole and Noah, okay? Promise?” Kurt asked.

“What about Finn?”

“Okay, and Finn, but nobody else, pinky swear?” Kurt got down on one knee and held out his hand. Sarah pinky swore.

“How does it work?” she asked, looking at the console.

Kurt pressed some buttons and pulled some levers, and his TARDIS made some noises as it faded away from the Puckermans' living room and reappeared in the parking garage of St. Sebastian's hospital. Surrounded by cars, the TARDIS's outer shell changed to the shape of a blue mini-van. Kurt opened a drawer on the console and pulled out a piece of psychic paper before slipping it into his pocket. He didn't think he'd need it, but it was just in case of emergency. He took Sarah's hand again, and led her to the emergency room.

The next few hours seemed to fly by, while at the same time Kurt was completely aware of exactly how much time was passing. Trait of a Time Lord. He stayed with Sarah through everything, explaining to the nurse that her mother was being arresting and her father was a deadbeat. The nurse didn't want to cooperate with the teenager, so the psychic paper did in fact come in handy.

“You're really worried about No aren't you?” Sarah asked.

“Noah's going to be fine,” Kurt reassured Sarah.

“I know,” Sarah said. “He's strong, and you're magic. You like him, don't you?”

“Of course I like him. He's my friend,” Kurt said.

“No, you _like_ like him. I can tell. You get that same look on your face that Santana has when she looks at Brittany,” Sarah informed him sagely. “And he _like_ likes you too. I know because whenever you talk about going to college he looks really sad. And once, in the middle of the night, I got up to get a drink of water, and I heard him say your name in his sleep.”

Kurt refused to let himself think about _that_. Kurt Hummel could fall in love with Noah Puckerman if he let himself. But Traylos was a Time Lord. Kurt was a Time Lord. He knew how to push his feelings aside. Because Noah Puckerman was completely human, and would be gone in less than a hundred years. And Kurt wouldn't be. He might even still be in this body, though he'd be much older then. Maybe he'd have regenerated by then, who knew for sure. But Kurt Hummel was basically immortal, and Noah Puckerman wasn't. Falling in love with Puck would be stupid, and idiotic, and so very human. Puck was his friend. Could be his friend, could even be his companion if he wanted to be. But it was best to leave love out of the equation for now.

“Sarah, Noah and I are just friends. Just like Noah and Finn are friends. No more than that,” Kurt told the girl, who gave him an exasperated, knowing look, but didn't comment again. Eventually Finn found them and told them that Puck was in surgery. They had to make sure the glass hadn't ruptured anything important. Carole had texted him already to tell him that Ruth had been arrested, and that the police were on their way to get a statement from Sarah.

*****

Everything seemed to take forever, though Kurt was aware of exactly how many earth hours, minutes and seconds that the whole ordeal took. But eventually Puck was out of surgery, with assurances from the doctors he'd be fine. Ruth was in jail, and Burt and Carole had filled out the proper forms with the state to take guardianship of Sarah, and of Puck—until he turned eighteen next week—since their Nana was too old to take care of them, and they didn't have any other family. They were all exhausted when it was time to leave the hospital.

“I can take everyone home in my TARDIS,” Kurt offered, knowing that his family wasn't yet used to his new method of transportation.

“No thank you,” Carole said quickly, shuddering. “We can talk about it all when we get home, but I'd rather not set foot in that thing again. I'm going to drive Sarah to her mother's house to get some clothes and then take her home. Burt and Finn can ride with us or go with Kurt in the...thing.”

“You game, Dad?” Kurt asked.

“Sure,” Burt said, albeit a little nervously. “I want to know all about the flying shed-box thing.”

“Me too,” Finn said eagerly, all exhaustion forgotten. “Where did you get it? How does it work? What is it?”

“Kurt's a good alien, but I'm not supposed to tell anyone except you and Noah,” Sarah said.

“You're an _alien_?” Finn asked, slightly louder than Kurt would have liked.

“Keep quiet, Finn,” Burt said. “Just follow Kurt. He'll explain everything eventually.”

Kurt's father and stepbrother followed Kurt out to the parking garage. There was a little fine ticket on the windshield, and Kurt rolled his eyes when he realized he forgot to get a ticket, since he didn't drive in through the front gate. Oh well, it's not as if the license plates were valid anyway, they couldn't trace it to him. And maybe he'd pay it anyway. He'd see how he felt tomorrow. He opened the door and walked inside. Finn looked at the room full of light again, then ran outside, running around the mini-van, before climbing inside again.

“The inside's bigger than the outside,” Finn said. “How does it work?”

“Incredibly complicated space-time technology that you wouldn't understand,” Kurt said. “Science.”

“And you're an alien,” Finn said, matter-of-factly.

“Yeah. I mean, I thought I was human until yesterday, then I got all my memories back, from before I was adopted. And I found my ship again. She's called a TARDIS.”

“Tardis?” Burt asked.

“It's all capital letters,” Kurt answered, “Stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. She's beautiful, isn't she?” Kurt stroked the console lovingly.

“She?” Finn asked.

“She's a quasi-sentient consciousness,” Kurt said.

“Kurt, we have no clue what you're talking about. Moreso than usual,” Burt said. “This whole alien thing is very jarring. Immediately after you tell us that Ruth hits her kids, you tell us that you're an alien, and then we instantly have to run out and rescue the kids. I still love you, kid, I always will, but this is a lot to take in.”

“I understand,” Kurt said.

“You're a good alien. Not like the freaky metal men, or the daleks, or anything, right?” Finn asked for confirmation.

“Totally a good alien,” Kurt said. “I can answer lots of questions and stuff later. Let's get home now.” Kurt pushed buttons and turned levers, and the TARDIS made a wooshing sound, and then they were transported from the hospital to their own backyard.

“Do I still have to go to school on Monday?” Finn asked.

“Yes,” Burt said resolutely. “So do you, Kurt.”

“That's fine,” Kurt said. “It's so close to graduation. I'm looking forward to it.”

“Then college,” Finn said. “College is going to be awesome.”

“You'll love it,” Kurt said, then he yawned. Because he really was worn out. He didn't know how to tell his family that he had no intention of going to Tisch, despite his acceptance, because he'd already gone to the Academy for more than eighty years.. He'd had all the schooling he'd planned on having. He hugged his father, grabbed some milk, and went upstairs. When he entered his bedroom, he saw the discarded silver pocket-watch. It didn't contain his essence anymore, but it was still special. He'd hang onto it.

*****

The last week of school was hectic. Puck had to get extensions on all his papers and exams because he was in the hospital, but everyone else finished up. Kurt had no problems acing every exam, since he had 103 years worth of knowledge in his head. He spent time with Rachel and Mercedes who were both getting nostalgic and weepy over graduation. Mercedes was sad to be separating from Kurt for college, though Rachel was still under the belief that she and Kurt were going to be going to New York together in a few months. He hadn't told her yet that he was going to take some time off and travel. Because now that he had his TARDIS back he was itching for a good adventure. But how do you tell your best friends that you're an alien with a time-traveling spaceship? As soon as he told them, Rachel would beg him to take her back in time to see Julie Andrews as Eliza in _My Fair Lady_. Actually, the more Kurt thought about it, the more fun that sounded. Maybe he'd take her for her birthday.

The time he didn't spend with his family or his friends at school, he spent with a slowly recovering Noah. Noah had given a statement about his mother's abuse, and the hospital had documented a large amount of evidence, including X-rays of old fractures, and photographs of jagged scars. Carole had been horrified to know that Puck had been stitching up his own cuts for years, and had even done it for Sarah once or twice, to keep them out of the hospital. An attorney for the state had talked to all three Puckermans and Ruth's public defender, and Ruth had agreed, after being threatened with large amounts of jail time, to into psychiatric treatment for her anger, her alcoholism, and her depression. She also agreed to sign custody of Sarah over to Burt and Carole.

Puck turned eighteen the 3 days after he was released from the hospital. Finn and Kurt threw him a birthday party, inviting all the glee kids. They'd all heard about Puck's mom by now, and the ones who'd suspected about the abuse felt guilty for not speaking up earlier, and the ones who'd never noticed felt guilty for their obliviousness. So to assuage their guilt, everyone went all out, buying Puck fancy, elaborate birthday presents. Kurt saved his gift until everyone had left, and he and Puck were alone in the living room.

“Come on,” Kurt said. “It's time for your birthday gift.”

“Alright, Princess, what do you want to show me?” Puck asked, riding to his feet.

“Come out to the backyard, and don't call me Princess,” Kurt instructed. He lead Puck out to the shed and unlocked it, then stepped inside the TARDIS. Puck followed him inside, and his jaw dropped. In typical human fashion, he ducked outside again, then circled the shed twice before going back inside again. He touched all the walls from the outside.

“Holy shit,” was the first thing Puck said. “How do you fit the outside around the inside?”

“It's extra-dimensional space,” Kurt said. “Welcome to my TARDIS. She's beautiful, isn't she?”

“She is,” Puck said, and he moved around the console room taking everything in. “Damn, Kurt, this is the most amazing thing ever. This is your ship?”

“Yep. My TARDIS. It stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. There's several floors and lots of rooms. If you don't break anything, you can look around,” Kurt said. “Carole's too scared to come back inside, but Dad wants to know how everything works.”

“How about Finn?”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Finn wanted me to take him to Jupiter.”

“You did explain that Jupiter's a gas giant, right?” Puck asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It's Finn,” Kurt said. “So, it's your 18th birthday. You are legally an adult in most countries and planets. Where do you want to go?”

“What?” Puck asked, surprised.

“It's your birthday, I want to take you somewhere special. And before you complain about stuff to do, remember this is also a time machine. We could be gone a year, and come back five minutes from now,” Kurt explained, pressing buttons and levers on the console. “So, pick a place, pick a time, anything you want.”

“There's so much...” Puck trailed off. Kurt knew he was still a little weak from being stabbed a week ago, and having surgery. He also know he was overwhelming his friend. But part of him felt unbelievably guilty for now

“How about a concert?” Kurt asked. “Is there any band that's broken up or dead you'd like to go see? I can get us in.”

Puck's eyes lit up at the idea.

“Nirvana?” Puck asked. “I'd love to see Nirvana. I was a baby when Cobain died.”

“Gimme a sec,” Kurt said. He'd long since moved his computer into the TARDIS, and he was looking up where and when Nirvana had performed “According to this website, the 'best Nirvana concert ever' was in Detroit on October 11, 1991. You game?”

“Yes,” Puck said enthusiastically.

“Then go down that hall to the end, take a left, and then go in the third door on the right, and you'll find my wardrobe. You should be able to find something appropriately grungy. Oh, give me your phone first.”

Puck handed Kurt his phone and Kurt picked up a gizmo off the console, fiddled with the phone a bit, then handed back.

“Intergalactic roaming. That phone will now call any time and any place in the universe, free of charge,” Kurt grinned.

“Dude, have I mentioned lately how completely awesome you are?” Puck grinned.

“It bears repeating,” Kurt smiled back. “Now, go change while I put in the coordinates.”

“Sir, yes sir,” Puck mock saluted, then followed the instructions to the TARDIS' wardrobe.

Kurt fiddled with the controls, and off they went, to Detroit, Michigan in 1991.

*end 2*


End file.
